The state's 54,777 employees deserve better.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, in his proposed $27.6 billion spending plan for the state, added no pay increase for state employees.
In recent years, Missouri's government employees have gotten little to nothing in cost-of-living allowance (COLA). Merit-based raises have been even rarer. As such, they remain the lowest-paid state workers in the nation.
According to the data firm Trading Economics, wage growth in the U.S. averaged 6.29 percent from 1960 until 2016. This past December, wages increased 3.57 percent over the previous December. By contrast, state employees didn't keep up with inflation last year, and that was a year they received a COLA.
In many recent years, they haven't received any increase.
For the state's workforce, the governor's proposals that their salaries remain flat probably was discouraging, but not surprising.
In his January state-of-the-state speech, the governor said Missouri could pay its state workers better if there were fewer to pay. "Our best state employees are being hurt by a big, bloated bureaucracy," Greitens said.
The state's public workforce already has been reduced by about 7,000 from the 2004-05 budget.
Whether state employees receive any kind of increase could hinge on the success of our local delegation of lawmakers. The governor proposes the budget. State lawmakers use that as a starting point, but they're the ones tasked with making whatever changes they see fit before approving the state's spending plan.
State Sen. Mike Kehoe, Rep. Jay Barnes and Rep. Mike Bernskoetter, all Jefferson City Republicans, previously have pledged to seek better pay for state workers.
After Greitens released his proposed budget, Kehoe said state employees do "excellent work and that they have earned a pay raise."
Greitens also offered some kind words for state employees, describing them as "hard-working public servants." He said other states aren't adequately funding their pension systems, but that he's committed to maintaining state employees' benefits package.
The state's benefits package has been reduced for new employees in recent years, so it's good to know the governor doesn't plan to reduce it further.
Kehoe pledged to "work within the constraints of the budget to try to make a pay raise a reality."
A good chunk of area lawmakers' constituents work for the state, and Jefferson City's economy naturally is affected by the state's willingness to pay its public workers a fair wage.
So we hope Jefferson City's lawmakers, and all state lawmakers, make raises a reality for state workers.